Podcast 131: Do 10 Jumping Jacks, an Easy Way to Stay Off Your Device–and Life Is High School.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

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Update: I’m excited because my new book, The Four Tendencies, hits the shelves in just 19 days.

I'm looking forward to heading to Los Angeles, and many other cities, on my book tour. Info here if you'd like to come to an event.

To thank readers who pre-order, I worked with a terrific production team tocreate a series of videos about the Four Tendencies. After the book goes on sale, I’ll charge for these videos, but until then, you can get access to them for free if you pre-order. Find all the info here. There’s an overview video, then subject videos on using the Four Tendencies at work, with spouses and sweethearts, with children and students, and in health-care settings.

It was great to hear everyone's suggestions for anti-perfectionism mantras. Wonderful.

If you want to check out Chris Guillebeau's brilliant podcast "Side Hustle School," for ideas about how to start your own side hustle, learn more here.

Try This at Home: Do ten jumping jacks. It will boost your mood and increase your energy.

Happiness Hack: As a way to cut down device addiction, Eric suggests that by forcing yourself to type in a long password to open your phone--rather than using a 6-digit password or fingerprint--you make it more inconvenient to open your phone and therefore easier to stay off it.

Happiness Stumbling Block: When you feel like you're in high school, all over again. The thing is, life is high school.

Listener Question: Bethleen asks, "What should I do with my dead mother's wedding dress?" As promised, I include a photo of Kristen in her vintage wedding dress.

Gretchen’s Demerit: I gave myself a prospective demerit, as a way to do a "pre-mortem" to anticipate reasons for failure. Doing a pre-mortem helps identify ways to help a project to succeed. This is an exercise that really works!

I did a pre-mortem by thinking, "My book fizzled. What did I do wrong?" and got very fired up to promote my book more. For instance, here's the link to the pre-order bonus videos.

Elizabeth’s Gold Star: Elizabeth gave a gold star to her friend Jessica who entered -- and won! -- a Beverly Hills Pie-Baking Contest.

Free Resources:

Want to join my group of Super-Fans? From time to time, I’ll offer you a little bonus, or ask for a small favor (nothing onerous, I promise). Sign up here. Super-Fans, I so appreciate your support and enthusiasm.

To get the pre-order bonus, you can findinfo here, or at happiercast.com/4tbonus. You’ll get the overview video as well as subject videos on using the Four Tendencies at work, with spouses and sweethearts, with children and students, and in health-care settings. Free now; after the book comes out, there will be a charge for the video series.

If you want easy instructions about how to rate or review the podcast, look here. Remember, it really helps us if you do rate or review the podcast — it helps other listeners discover us.

As I mentioned above, I do weekly live videos on my Facebook Page to continue the conversation from the podcast — usually on Tuesdays at 3:00 pm ET. To join the conversation, check the schedule.

More Episodes For You

Find out if you’re an Upholder, Obliger, Questioner, or a Rebel.

The Four Tendencies explain why we act and why we don’t act. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behavior, so understanding your Tendency lets us make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress and burnout, and engage more effectively.